When Yahweh acts, his enemies flee and leave behind all their wealth as spoils for God’s people.

And spoil is gathered: And renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translate it “Then,” but many versions omit it, which is acceptable. Spoil refers to the booty taken from a defeated enemy (see the comments on 10.2). Another word for spoil is “plunder.” For languages that need to render the passive verb is gathered in an active form, God’s people are the most likely agents. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes this explicit by rendering this clause as “Then we pounce on the booty” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Translators may also express this in general terms by saying “People gather up the spoils.” There is a textual problem in this line. The Hebrew text of Masoretic Text has “your spoil” (so New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) instead of spoil. Like Revised Standard Version, most versions emend the text to read “spoil.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers Masoretic Text here, but we recommend the emended text since it fits the context better.

As the caterpillar gathers is literally “the gathering of the locust.” This is an ambiguous phrase since it could mean “as locusts gather” (so most translations) or “as locusts are gathered” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly New American Bible). In the context the first meaning is more likely. This phrase compares the way people gather up spoils of war with the way locusts eat things. Just as locusts devour everything in their path, so people loot everything their enemy leaves behind. The Hebrew word for caterpillar refers to a young locust, while the word for locusts in the next line points to adult locusts. If it is necessary to provide an object for the verb gather, translators may say “gather food.”

As locusts leap, men leap upon it: Just as swarms of locusts devour crops quickly, so people rush to grab the spoils of war. Leap may be rendered “swarm” or “advance” for the locust plague in view here. Men is better translated “people” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “they” (New Revised Standard Version) in this context. The pronoun it refers back to the spoil in the first line.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• People gather up the spoils [of victory]
just like locusts gather [food];
just like a locust plague advances,
people advance on the spoils.

• Spoils of victory are gathered up
just like young locusts gather up food;
just like adult locusts swarm,
so people swarm over the spoils.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .